


Signals (HOH! Naruto)

by waterwhosleepwho



Category: Naruto
Genre: Deaf Character, Deaf Naruto, M/M, Strong Uzumaki Naruto, hard of hearing naruto, shikanaru - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24410218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterwhosleepwho/pseuds/waterwhosleepwho
Summary: Iruka begins to notice that Naruto has some problems hearing. How will he handle it? Will it get in the way of Naruto being a ninja? *ShikaNaru*
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 7
Kudos: 156





	Signals (HOH! Naruto)

Iruka liked to think that he paid a great amount attention to his students. He knew that Shikamaru was smarter than he lead on. He knew who had a crush on who. He knew which students he needed to separate and he knew which students to put together. But admittedly, Iruka didn't pay much attention to Naruto. Outside of dragging him back to class when he skipped and telling him to pay attention, Naruto was practically invisible. Of course, they have their weekly ramen trips, but that was more or less to keep the kid calm. Not that Iruka didn't enjoy having the kid in his class, because he does.

However, that wasn't always the case. When he first heard that the jinchuriki was going to be in his class, Iruka stomped into the Hokage's office and demanded that he be transferred. But the Hokage told him no and he was set to teach the child. Iruka was blinded by his hatred for the kyuubi that he couldn't see the innocent kid in front of him. Until the first class. The first day that Naruto was in his class, he was loud and obnoxious and disrespectful. But on top of all that, he was a kid. He was kind and friendly and everything that screams naive. This wasn't a dangerous beast. It was a child. A child who had been cast aside and picked on it's entire life. 

Even after Iruka came to his senses, he still didn't pay much attention to the blond during class. He figured it would fuel his fire and cause him to yell louder. In hindsight, Iruka really should have found it odd that Naruto was always yelling.

Eventually, Iruka began to pay more attention to Naruto. he had a theory. It would make sense. But he had to test it first. So he did. The next time that Naruto asked him to repeat a question, iruka did just that.

"What is fuinjutsu?" Iruka asked, slightly louder than the first time. Naruto seemed surprised at first. Like he was expecting to be yelled at.

"Uh......sealing jutsu?" Naruto replies, fingers tapping at his desk anxiously. When no answer came, naruto braced himself to be yelled at for having the wrong answer.

"Correct," Iruka says. Naruto beamed in response and Iruka noted that this grin was much more real than any other the blond had shown. 

This didn't really prove anything, but it showed that Naruto at least paid attention during class. Fuinjutsu was something they hardly touched upon during class, as it wasn't in the academy curriculum. Iruka had mentioned maybe twice when talking about things that their jounin instructor would teach them.

From then on, when Naruto asked from something to be repeated, Iruka simply repeated it instead of yelling at the boy for not paying attention. Most of the time, Naruto did know the answer. When he was talking to Naruto he made sure to speak a bit louder than he normally would. Not log after he made the change in his classroom, Iruka noticed something else.

When listening to someone talk, Naruto almost never looked the person in the eye. His gaze rested lower on their faces. After a while of watching and pondering on the subject, Iruka came to the conclusion that Naruto was reading people's lips. After he realized that, Iruka began to over-pronunciate his words to make it easier on the boy. This often gained odd looks from the rest of his students, but he didn't care. 

So far, he was happy with Naruto's progress. But he knew that he had the potential to do better. But he would need help. Iruka would be happy to provide the help, but he would need the Hokage's permission. As much as he respected the Hokage, he didn't know how he felt about Naruto. Iruka saw the way that Naruto was treated by the villagers. He didn't want to risk Naruto being hated more than he already was.

Eventually, Iruka decided that he'd talk to the Hokage about implementing Shinobi Sign Language (SSL) into the academy curriculum, but wouldn't say anything about Naruto. Speaking of Naruto, Iruka was going to be late for their weekly ramen meet-up. As the last students began to leave the class, Iruka started to pack up but was stopped when one of his students stopped in front of his desk.

Iruka looked up to see Shikamaru. The boy waved Choji's question away and said that he'd meet him later. "Can I help you, Shikamaru?"

"It's about Naruto," Shikamaru says, never one to beat around the bush. Iruka's eyes narrow and he pauses his movements. "Oh, no, no. It's not anything bad. I just.....well, I think he might be hard of hearing."

"I see. Would you mind telling me your reasons for thinking so?" Iruka asks.

"He takes notes. Everything you say or write on the board, he writes down. But he stops writing when you're looking away from the class. He gets this frustrated look on his face when you turn your back while speaking. On top of that, it's ridiculously easy to sneak up on him. Even if you're making a lot of noise, he won't hear you coming. Also, he reads people's lips when they talk. I'm sure you already noticed most of that though," Shikamaru answers. Iruka nods.

"Yes, I have. I plan on talking to both him and the Hokage later today. But I'm worried about him. He doesn't......fit in well. I'm sure you've noticed," Iruka says. He knew better than to reveal the reason, but there was no harm in some subtle guilt tripping.

Shikamaru sighs and looks out the window. "Yeah. We used to be friends, I guess. But then we stopped skipping as a group. I didn't try very hard to keep touch. I probably should've. Anyway, that's all I needed to say. I figured I would make sure you knew. See ya."

Honestly, Iruka had no idea if his guilt trip had worked. It was hard to tell what the young Nara was thinking most of the time.


End file.
